WHOI in the News
NASA Teams up with Deep-Sea Explorers to prep for Europa Missions and Beyond
Weighing about 550 pounds, the six-foot-long Orpheus drone cost nearly $2 million to build and was named for the Greek poet and prophet. The main goal for this next-generation mini-submarine that was engineered and constructed by WHOI in Massachusetts, will be to increase our knowledge of the deepest areas of our planet’s oceans known as the hadal zone.
Drone Footage Captures Rare Moment of Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales ‘Hugging’
Researchers spotted the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales on a recent trip to Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts.
A Rusting Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Yemen Is an Environmental Catastrophe Waiting to Happen. Can Anyone Prevent It?
Viviane Menezes, a marine scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, has described the Red Sea as being like a “big lagoon” with “everything connected.” An oil spill at any time of year would be disastrous, she says, but seasonally variable weather and tidal patterns make contingency planning difficult. In the summer, Red Sea currents would drag an oil slick south, threatening Eritrea and Djibouti, and potentially entering the Gulf of Aden. In winter, circular currents would swirl more of the oil north.
Whale of a hug: Drone video shows endangered mammals in apparent embrace
One of the few things rarer than North Atlantic right whales? Capturing a whale ‘hug’ on video. Scientists have done that for what might have been the first time from the air.
Study finds six degrees celsius cooling on land during the last ice age
The study bolsters the method of analyzing noble gases to reconstruct paleo temperatures and provides more confidence in climate models, according to the authors.
WHOI to Launch New Center for Ocean and Climate Research
“This extraordinary gift,” said WHOI President and Director, Peter de Menocal, “will propel critical work that is needed to understand and elucidate the interplay between the global ocean, Earth’s climate, and human societies.”
Tracking Carbon From the Ocean Surface to the Dark “Twilight Zone”
Much of the science focuses on the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle. Through chemical and biological processes, the ocean removes as much carbon from the atmosphere as all plant life on land.
Tracking carbon from the ocean surface to the twilight zone
Much of the science focuses on the ocean‘s role in the global carbon cycle.
Falmouth Academy students awarded in state science fair
Twelve students from the school presented at the fair, which was held April 28 to May 5, and eight were awarded prizes, the school announced in a statement last week.
Whales Seen Hugging Off Cape Cod
Rare video shows two endangered whales hugging off Cape Cod shore
Biden wants to move energy offshore, but choppy seas are ahead
The Biden administration has set a goal that industry players call highly ambitious, if not unrealistic: to produce 30,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind farms by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes. Meeting this goal is one of the few available paths for President Biden to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and fight climate change.
Consortium For Combatting Global Climate Change
Designed to act as an engine for continuous innovation and powered by some of the world’s leading minds and businesses, the OCIA consortium is open to participation by a wide range of leading organisations across business, academia and non-profits that recognise the inextricable links between ocean and climate and wish to have a positive impact on the global climate crisis.
State waters remain closed to lobstermen
Also, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s Slocum underwater glider on Sunday acoustically detected the presence of North Atlantic right whales north of Cape Cod and NOAA Fisheries on Monday instituted a voluntary right whale slow zone north of Cape Cod until May 17.
Woods Hole receives $28 million for oceanographic research center
Among other things, the center will work to explore the effectiveness of ocean-based solutions to climate change identified by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which include lowering barriers to ocean-based renewable energy, accelerating the conservation of existing coastal ecosystems, and reducing the carbon footprint of the fishing and aquaculture industries.
With A Drone And Patience, Scientists Track Endangered Right Whale In Cape Cod Bay
“Right whales are beautifully equipped for drone work in terms of identification,” he said. “They wear their identity on their heads in the form of callosities,” which are massive calluses that are unique to each individual whale. “So every time we take a photograph, we know who it is.”
Arctic AUV Listens Its Way Forward with New Navigation Method
To successfully navigate throughout the Arctic requires understanding how these changes in sound propagation affect a vehicle’s ability to communicate and navigate.
Navigating beneath the Arctic ice
A team of MIT engineers has developed a navigational method for autonomous vehicles to navigate accurately in the Arctic Ocean without GPS.
There Are Massive Chemical Dumps In The Gulf We Know Almost Nothing About
Starting in 1973, the Environmental Protection Agency issued chemical giants permits to discard thousands of drums of industrial chemical waste at the offshore site.
Ocean and Climate Innovation Accelerator launched
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Analog Devices have launched the Ocean and Climate Innovation Accelerator (OCIA) consortium.
ADI teams on ocean innovation accelerator
The Ocean and Climate Innovation Accelerator (OCIA) consortium is funded with $3m over three years from ADI to develop new technologies to monitor climate change.
Deep under the ocean microbes are active and poised to eat whatever comes their way
“It’s deep. It’s dark. It’s elusive.” The ocean’s twilight zone is full of wonders.
“It’s been called the greatest migration on Earth,” says Annette Govindarajan, a WHOI oceanographer who also does twilight zone research.
WHOI partnership means $3 million to investigate how climate change affects oceans
Funded by a $3 million multiyear grant from Analog Devices Inc. of Wilmington, the program will support research investigating climate change impacts on the ocean.